Old Greenwich is an affluent coastal village in
Fairfield County Fairfield County is the name of three counties in the United States:
* Fairfield County, Connecticut
* Fairfield County, Ohio
Fairfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,921. ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
, United States. As of the
2010 census it had a population of 6,611.
The town of Greenwich is one political and taxing body, but consists of several distinct sections or neighborhoods, such as
Byram,
Cos Cob
Cos Cob is a neighborhood and census-designated place in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut. It is located on the Connecticut shoreline in southern Fairfield County. It had a population of 6,770 at the 2010 census.
Cos Cob is located on the west ...
,
Glenville,
Mianus, Old Greenwich,
Riverside and
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
(sometimes referred to as central, or downtown, Greenwich). Of these neighborhoods, three (Cos Cob, Old Greenwich, and Riverside) have separate postal names and
ZIP codes.
History
One of the founding settlers of Old Greenwich was
Elizabeth Fones
Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallett (21 January 1610 – c. 1673) was an early settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1640 Fones, with her then-husband Robert Feake, were founders of Greenwich, Connecticut. Wolfe (2012)
She married her ...
, niece and daughter-in-law of
John Winthrop
John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...
, founder and Governor of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony. What is now called Greenwich Point was known for much of its early history as "Elizabeth Neck" in recognition of Elizabeth (Fones) Feake Hallet and her 1640 purchase of the Point and much of the area now known as Old Greenwich.
The
Old Greenwich Railroad Station, originally called the "Sound Beach Railroad Station", built in 1894 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, serves commuters in the neighborhood. The town's largest beach is on a long, thin peninsula at the southwest end of the neighborhood. The town's local beach is called Tod's Point after a former resident. The beach is now public property, which belongs to the town of Greenwich. Residents can purchase a seasonal beach pass. Non-residents can purchase a one-day pass for $7 per person and $35 per vehicle. During "off season", Innis Arden, a local golf club, is a popular sledding destination for kids in Old Greenwich and neighboring Stamford.
Old Greenwich was known as "Sound Beach" in the 19th century for its proximity to
Long Island Sound, and the main road through the small downtown business section is Sound Beach Avenue.
Old Greenwich had an industrial presence in the 1950s and 1960s when
Electrolux
Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool.
Electrolux products sell under a variety ...
had a vacuum manufacturing facility on Forest Avenue, opposite "ECCman Center" (now Greenwich Civic Center).
Condé Nast
Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast, and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan.
The company's media ...
operated a printing facility in Old Greenwich from 1924 to 1964 which published many different magazines, including
Vogue,
Vanity Fair and
House & Garden.
The town of Greenwich has one political body (RTM – Representative Town Meeting). It has several distinct sections each with its own mailing address and
ZIP code, such as
Byram,
Cos Cob
Cos Cob is a neighborhood and census-designated place in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut. It is located on the Connecticut shoreline in southern Fairfield County. It had a population of 6,770 at the 2010 census.
Cos Cob is located on the west ...
,
Glenville,
Mianus, and
Riverside and Greenwich proper (downtown Greenwich). The original "well to do" population lived mainly in "The Back Country" (north of the
Merritt Parkway
The Merritt Parkway (also known locally as "The Merritt") is a limited-access parkway in Fairfield County, Connecticut, with a small section at the northern end in New Haven County. Designed for Connecticut's Gold Coast, the parkway is known ...
) or in the exclusive Belle Haven area on the waterfront. The town was founded there in 1641.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Old Greenwich has a total area of 3.48 mi
2 (9.01 km
2), of which 2.00 mi
2 (5.17 km
2) is land and 1.48 mi
2 (3.84 km
2), or 0.78%, is water.
Wealth
Residents in Old Greenwich are generally wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income communities in America. in 2018, the median household income was $233,519 and the per capita income was $104,542. The average household income in 2018 was $336,692.
Notable people
*
Edwin Binney
Edwin Binney (November 24, 1866 – December 17, 1934) was an American entrepreneur and inventor, who created the first dustless white chalk, and along with his cousin C. Harold Smith (born London, 1860 - died, 1931), was the founder of handicraft ...
*
Ruth Madoff
Ruth Madoff ( ; Alpern; born May 18, 1941) is the widow of Bernie Madoff, the convicted American financial fraudster who served a prison sentence for a criminal financial scheme until his death in April 2021. After her husband's arrest for his ...
, wife of
Bernie Madoff
*
Tim Mazzetti
*
Mike Sandlock
*
Jack Trout
*
Edward Vick
*
Constance Walton
*
Victor Borge
Gallery
Image:GreenwichCTOldGreenwichDtownWside09092007.JPG, Sound Beach Avenue, east side
Image:GreenwichCTOldGreenwichRRstaEaSide09092007.jpg, Old Greenwich Railroad Station
Image:GreenwichCTOldGreenwichArchStTunnel09092007.jpg, Arch Street tunnel under the railroad tracks
Image:PostcardGreenwichCTTheCastleSoundBeachCirca1908.jpg, "The Castle," circa 1908
See also
*
References
{{authority control
Neighborhoods in Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Census-designated places in Fairfield County, Connecticut
Census-designated places in Connecticut
Populated coastal places in Connecticut